


Valentine's Day - Preschool Style

by Lynx22281



Series: Unfold Your Love [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff, Parent volunteers, Preschoolers, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 21:48:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3356480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynx22281/pseuds/Lynx22281
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas and Sam get roped into helping out with their kids' preschool class Valentine's Day party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valentine's Day - Preschool Style

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sick for the third Valentine's Day in a row. Ugh. My poor hubby.

Sam turned to Cas, a momentary look of panic on his face as they approached the classroom door festooned with a dozen red, pink, white, and purple construction paper hearts.  "Why did we agree to this again?"

 

"Because Dean and Jess signed up to help with the Valentine's party, but Jess is home sick with the flu and Dean got called away to a crime scene in the middle of the night."  Cas shifted the heavy basket of party treats from one arm to the other as his eyes zeroed in on his daughter's heart.  It was purple, of course, and the first letter of her name looked more like a multi-toothed comb than the letter E.  "Would you rather deal with a pair of disappointed 4-year-olds?"

 

Sam chuckled and sighed.  "If there's one thing Colt has already mastered, it's the puppy dog eyes."

 

The door opened, revealing a darkened classroom and a smiling Donna Hanscum with her finger pressed against her lips.

 

"Heya, fellas," she said softly.  "They're still down for their afternoon nap, but we can get set up before it's time to wake them."

 

The preschool teacher led them along the wall of the classroom away from the open area at the front of the room where twelve little bodies rested on twelve little mats.  Some of the kids were wrapped up in blankets and others were curled around pillows and stuffed animals.

 

"I tuckered 'em out on the playground after lunch," the teacher remarked fondly as she looked over her sleeping students.  

 

At the back of the room in the tiled floor area that served as the class's lunch and art area, Nancy, the teaching assistant, was spreading a red plastic tablecloth over one of the tables.  The other table was already covered and set with six pink plastic plates, six white paper napkins covered in red and pink hearts, and six clear plastic cups with lids and straws.  There were red and white streamers crisscrossing the walls and cutouts of cupids and hearts stuck up on the cabinets.

 

"Hi, Mr. Winchester and Mr. Winchester," the young dark-haired woman whispered softly as she grabbed another stack of plates and cups.  "Would one of you mind pouring the milk?"

 

"Sure," Sam volunteered as he stepped over to the sink to wash his hands.  He nearly had to get down on his knees to reach the low faucet.

 

Cas held up the basket.  "Where should I put this?"

 

Donna ushered him over to the cleared off high counter along the back wall.  "We'll put the treats out here where little hands can't reach."

 

Nodding, Cas began to unload the basket.  There was a tray of brownies with red and white sprinkles on top, a plate of heart shaped chocolate chip cookies, and a pan of yellow cake squares frosted with pink lemonade icing.  He cringed at the thought of dealing with twelve sugar-hyped preschoolers for the rest of the afternoon.  Luckily, it was Friday and school let out early, so Donna wouldn't have to endure a mass sugar rush for too long before parents showed up to take their kids home for the weekend.

 

"Oh boy!" Donna exclaimed, almost forgetting that she needed to be quiet.  "Are these Dean's homemade brownies?"

 

"Yes, and he made sure to pack extra for you," Cas said proudly.  Dean Winchester knew his way around a kitchen.  Unfortunately, Cas's middle was starting to show proof of that skill.  He needed to take the twins out with the running stroller more often.  The boys were quite fond of going fast around the track at the park.

 

"Your husband does know that he doesn't need to bribe me to give positive feedback on your daughter's progress reports, right?   She's doing well enough on her own."

 

Cas chuckled.  "But it can't hurt, right?"

 

"Well, I'm not gonna say no to a big fat, fudgy brownie, now am I?"  The teacher smiled conspiratorially.

 

A warm little body suddenly pressed against Cas's leg.  Looking down, he saw a pair of sleepy blue eyes framed by lavender colored, wire-rimmed glasses staring up at him.  When Dean and Emma went to the eye doctor last month, both had come home with prescriptions for glasses - Dean's for reading and Emma's for distance.  To see them simultaneously push their glasses up their noses with the tips of their index fingers while they read a book together never failed to make Cas's heart melt into a gooey puddle.

 

"Hey, bumblebee," he murmured quietly, kneeling down in front of his daughter with a smile and pulling her in close for a hug.  "Did you have a good nap?"

 

"Mmhmm.  Can I have a cookie now?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in a gesture that Dean swore was all Cas.

 

"Let's wait for everybody else to wake up first, ok?"

 

"Emma, do you want to help me wake the class?" Donna asked, holding out her hand to the little girl.

 

"Yeah!"  Emma grabbed hold of her teacher's hand and the pair of them went to the front of the room where Emma pushed a button on the CD player while Ms. Hanscum pulled open the blinds covering the windows.  The soft bird-like song of  _Ranz des Vaches_  from Rossini's _William Tell Overture_  floated from the stereo's speakers. Little bodies began to stir at the gentle wake up.

 

Sam, who had finished helping Nancy pour milk into cups, came to lean against the counter next to Cas so they could watch their children's teacher quietly pull her students out of their slumber and back into the waking world.  There were no meltdowns over having to wake up, no whining, no post-sleep grumpiness.  After the short song looped around to start a third time, the twelve preschoolers were wake enough to stack their mats together in a corner of the room and tuck their pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals in their cubbies. 

 

"Ok, everybody.  I want you to give a big welcome to Colt's dad and Emma's dad who are here to help us celebrate Valentine's Day this afternoon," Donna announced to the room.

 

The two men were greeted by an enthusiastic, though still slightly sleepy, cacophony of high pitched hellos from their kids' classmates.  Smiling, they waved back.

 

"Blue table will sit with me and Emma's dad and Red table will sit with Miss Fitzgerald and Colt's dad," Donna directed.

 

"But, Mrs. Hanscum!"  A red-haired girl piped up, waving her hand up in the air.  "Both tables are red."

 

"You're right, Julie."  The teacher tapped her index finger against her chin in exaggerated thought.  "Does everybody remember how to tell your left from your right?"

 

Every student held out their hands, thumbs sticking out perpendicular from their palms.

 

"Blue table is on the left and Red table is on the right."

 

Six students held up their left hands, the L-shape of their thumbs and forefingers proudly held out, and went to the table their teacher had indicated was the blue table, while the other six students went to the table on the right.  

 

Donna praised them as they found their seats at the correct tables before leaning over to Cas and Sam.  "We've been working on left and right for a couple of weeks and this is the first time they've all gotten it right!  It's a little easier to explain if the whole class is right-handed, but this year I've got three left-handers."

 

She turned back to the students.  "Hands in laps, please."

 

All twelve pairs of hands immediately left whatever they'd been fidgeting with on the table and slapped down beneath the table into laps.

 

"Now, the two Misters Winchester and Miss Fitzgerald are going to come around and give you each a goodie while I will pass out the Valentine's mailboxes.  Once everybody has received their snacks and mailboxes, then you may eat and open your cards.  Understood?"

 

Twelve little heads bobbed in unison.

 

Donna turned back to Cas and Sam, motioning towards the trays of baked goods.  "We'll follow your lead."

 

Cas manned the brownies while Sam managed the cookies and Nancy passed out the cake squares.  The portions were very small so that little tummies could handle a taste of all three treats.  There were, of course, larger portions for the four adults and two carefully wrapped plates of extras for the teacher and teacher's aide to take home with them later.

 

Donna passed out cereal boxes liberally decorated with heart-shaped cutouts, glitter, construction paper, pipe cleaners, colored tissue paper, and crayon drawings that the students had used earlier in the day to deliver Valentine's cards to their classmates.  Once every child had received the box they had decorated and had their snacks delivered, little fingers dug into food and tore into envelopes.

 

Cas and Sam shared an incredulous look when everybody settled down to munching and talking about what they found in their boxes.  The smoothness of the party was a testament to how well Donna Hanscum managed her class of four-year-olds.  

 

Both Donna and Nancy gushed over the handmade and purchased Valentine's Day cards that they found in their own decorated cereal boxes, giving equal attention to each child.  Both Emma's and Colt's cards to their classmates were _TMNT_ themed, but luckily there had been two different sets of designs at Target so they didn't run into giving anybody the same card twice.  The teachers each received a Hallmark card and a $20 Starbucks card from the Winchester families.  They received similar goodies from the other students' families - bags of candy, giant chocolate bars, bottles of lotion, gift cards, mugs, things they had no doubt received over and over again throughout their years of teaching, but they showed their appreciation for each one as though it was the first time they'd ever received such a gift.

 

After an hour of partying, Nancy came by with a trashcan to collect empty plates and cups while Donna had everybody put their cards back into their mailboxes so they could get ready to go home.  Outside, cars were already beginning to line up in the circular driveway in front of the school's entrance.  Cas and Sam helped Emma and Colt into their coats before realizing that their classmates had begun to form a line behind them holding out their own coats, mittens, and hats for adult hands to help them put on.  With Nancy's help, all twelve students were dressed warmly against the cold February chill in record time.

 

"Class what do we say to Mr. Winchester and Mr. Winchester?"

 

"Thank you!" they chorused, jumping excitedly.

 

Cas looked over to see his brother-in-law beaming at the class.  He nudged him gently as the students began to file out the door behind Nancy.  "Did you enjoy yourself?"

 

"That was not what I expected at all.  Now, I see why Jess wants to volunteer all the time."  Sam turned to the teacher who was walking their way with the empty treat basket held in her hands.  "Donna, you do a wonderful job with these kids.  I don't suppose you want to follow ours to kindergarten in the fall?"

 

Donna laughed.  "You aren't the first parent to ask that, but no, I'm staying right here.  I have so much more freedom to do what I want to do with my students than K-8 teachers.  But don't worry, they'll be ready for kindergarten when they get there in August."

 

Cas offered his hand out to the teacher.  "Thank you for all that you do."

 

She smiled and nodded her head as she shook Cas's hand.  "I'll keep doing it as long as there are still students like Emma and Colt."

 

The two preschoolers perked up at the sound of their names from where they were tidying up the building block activity center while the adults were talking.  They toddled over, bundled up warm in their coats and scarves.  

 

"Ok, munchkins," Sam said to the pair of them, kneeling down to help Colt put on his gloves.  "Ready to go home?"

 

"Yeah!" 

 

Sam scooped Colt up, settling him on his hip and taking the basket from Donna while Cas took Emma's mitten-covered hand in his right hand and grabbed the handles of Emma's and Colt's bookbags with his left hand.

 

"I'll see you two on Monday morning.  Have a good weekend!" Donna said as she followed the fathers and their children to the door.

 

The kids waved to their teacher all the way down the hall and out the front door.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Jess is a nurse and she most likely had to get the flu shot for work. However, this year's flu shot has only a 23% success rate! Poor Jess. She's going to be ok though.
> 
> This didn't make its way into the story, but Sam asks Cas to dinner since he'd already made reservations at the fancy Italian place in town and lined up a babysitter. Cas says it would be a shame for both of them to be lonely on Valentine's. They go on a bro-date and totally share a massive tiramisu for two.


End file.
